Ambacum

Chapter 1

1:1 The burden which the prophet Ambacum
saw.

2 How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and
thou wilt not hearken? how long shall I cry out to thee being injured,
and thou wilt not save? 3 Wherefore
hast thou shown me troubles and griefs to look upon, misery and ungodliness?
judgment is before me, and the judge receives a reward. 4
Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment proceeds not
effectually, for the ungodly man prevails over the just; therefore
perverse judgment will proceed.

5 Behold, ye despisers, and look, and
wonder marvelously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days, which ye will in
no wise believe, though a man declare it to you. 6
Wherefore, behold, I stir up the Chaldeans, the bitter and
hasty nation, that walks upon the breadth of the earth, to inherit tabernacles
not his own. 7 He is terrible and
famous; his judgment shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of
himself. 8 And his horses shall
bound more swiftly than leopards, and they are fiercer than the
wolves of Arabia: and his horsemen shall ride forth, and shall rush from far;
and they shall fly as an eagle hasting to eat. 9
Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their
adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand. 10 And he shall be at his ease with kings,
and princes are his toys, and he shall mock at every strong-hold, and shall cast
a mound, and take possession of it. 11
Then shall he change his spirit, and he shall pass through, and
make an atonement, saying, This strength belongs to my god.

12 Art not thou from the
beginning, O Lord God, my Holy One? and surely we shall not die. O Lord, thou
hast established it for judgment, and he has formed me to chasten with
his correction. 13 His eye is
too pure to behold evil doings, and to look upon grievous afflictions:
wherefore dost thou look upon despisers? wilt thou be silent when the ungodly
swallows up the just? 14 And wilt
thou make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptiles which have no guide?
15 He has brought up destruction
with a hook, and drawn one with a casting net, and caught another in his drags:
therefore shall his heart rejoice and be glad. 16
Therefore will he sacrifice to his drag, and burn incense to his
casting-net, because by them he has made his portion fat, and his meats choice.
17 Therefore will he cast his net,
and will not spare to slay the nations continually.

Chapter 2

2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and
mount upon the rock, and watch to see what he will say by me, and what I shall
answer when I am reproved. 2 And the
Lord answered me and said, Write the vision, and that plainly on a
tablet, that he that reads it may run. 3
For the vision is yet for a time, and it shall shoot forth
at the end, and not in vain: though he should tarry, wait for him; for he will
surely come, and will not tarry.

4 If he should draw back, my soul has no
pleasure in him: but the just shall live by my faith.5
But the arrogant man and the scorner, the boastful man, shall not finish
anything; who has enlarged his desire as the grave, and like death he is never
satisfied, and he will gather to himself all the nations, and will receive to
himself all the peoples. 6 Shall not
all these take up a parable against him? and a proverb to tell against him? and
they shall say, Woe to him that multiplies to himself the possessions which are
not his! how long? and who heavily loads his yoke. 7
For suddenly there shall arise up those that bite him, and
they that plot against thee shall awake, and thou shalt be a plunder to them.
8 Because thou hast spoiled many
nations, all the nations that are left shall spoil thee, because of the
blood of men, and the sins of the land and city, and of all that dwell in it.

9 Woe to him that covets an evil
covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be
delivered from the power of evils. 10
Thou hast devised shame to thy house, thou hast utterly destroyed
many nations, and thy soul has sinned. 11
For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beetle out of
the timber shall speak.

12 Woe to him that builds a city with
blood, and establishes a city by unrighteousness. 13
Are not these things of the Lord Almighty? surely many
people have been exhausted in the fire, and many nations have fainted. 14 For the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord; it shall cover them as water.

15 Woe to him that gives his neighbour
to drink the thick lees of wine, and intoxicates him, that he may
look upon their secret parts. 16
Drink thou also thy fill of disgrace instead of glory: shake, O heart,
and quake, the cup of the right hand of the Lord has come round upon thee, and
dishonour has gathered upon thy glory. 17
For the ungodliness of Libanus shall cover thee, and distress
because of wild beasts shall dismay thee, because of the blood of men, and the
sins of the land and city, and of all that dwell in it.

18 What profit it the graven image, that
they have graven it? one has made it a molten work, a false image; for
the maker has trusted in his work, to make dumb idols.

19 Woe to him that says to the wood,
Awake, arise; and to the stone, Be thou exalted! whereas it is an image, and
this is a casting of gold and silver, and there is no breath in it. 20 But the Lord is in his holy temple: let
all the earth fear before him.

Chapter 3

3:1 A PRAYER OF THE PROPHET AMBACUM,
WITH A SONG.

2 O Lord, I have heard thy report, and
was afraid: I considered thy works, and was amazed: thou shalt be known between
the two living creatures, thou shalt be acknowledged when the years draw nigh;
thou shalt be manifested when the time is come; when my soul is troubled, thou
wilt in wrath remember mercy.

3 God shall come from Thaeman, and the
Holy One from the dark shady mount Pharan. Pause. 4
His excellence covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his
praise. And his brightness shall be as light; there were horns in his
hands, and he caused a mighty love of his strength. 5
Before his face shall go a report, and it shall go forth
into the plains, 6 the earth stood
at his feet and trembled: he beheld, and the nations melted away: the mountains
were violently burst through, the everlasting hills melted at his everlasting
going forth. 7 Because of troubles I
looked upon the tents of the Ethiopians: the tabernacles also of the land of
Madiam shall be dismayed.

8 Wast thou angry, O Lord, with the
rivers? or was thy wrath against the rivers, or thine anger against the
sea? for thou wilt mount on thine horses, and thy chariots are salvation. 9 Surely thou didst bend they bow at
scepters, saith the Lord. Pause. The land of rivers shall be torn asunder.
10 The nations shall see thee and be
in pain, as thou dost divide the moving waters: the deep uttered her
voice, and raised her form on high. 11
The sun was exalted, and the moon stood still in her course: thy
darts shall go forth at the light, at the brightness of the gleaming of thine
arms. 12 Thou wilt bring low the
land with threatening, and in wrath thou wilt break down the nations. 13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of
thy people, to save thine anointed: thou shalt bring death on the heads of
transgressors; thou has brought bands upon their neck. Pause. 14 Thou didst cut asunder the heads of
princes with amazement, they shall tremble in it; they shall burst their
bridles, they shall be as a poor man devouring in secret. 15 And thou dost cause thine horses to
enter the sea, disturbing much water.

16 I watched, and my belly trembled at
the sound of the prayer of my lips, and trembling entered into my bones, and my
frame was troubled within me; I will rest in the day of affliction, from going
up to the people of my sojourning.

17 For though the fig-tree shall
bear no fruit, and there shall be no produce on the vines; the labour of the
olive shall fail, and the fields shall produce no food: the sheep have failed
from the pasture, and there are no oxen at the cribs; 18
yet I will exult in the Lord, I will joy in God my Saviour.
19 The Lord God is my strength, and
he will perfectly strengthen my feet; he mounts me upon high places, that I may
conquer by his song.